Time to Buy Emerging-Market Debt

Investors have an opportunity to take advantage of the wide spreads between rates on developing- and developed-nation debt.

Seventeen straight weeks of outflows from emerging-market bond funds have created both more-rational sentiment and decent valuations. Investors can feel safe jumping back on board.

Valuations have become much more compelling. To find the yield equivalent in the U.S., investors would have to go deep into the junk-bond category. The J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Global, which tracks sovereign...